Photo: Dave Herholz · CC BY-SA 2.0Sedalia’s library runs 8.6 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 24 for libraries its size
Sedalia Public Library serves Sedalia’s 20,022 residents. Last year it lent 58K books, movies and e-books and logged 26K visits.
Sedalia’s library, in brief
The library is a National Register landmark
Sedalia Public Library has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1980. Today’s library there has 13,500 square feet. The buildings ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Sedalia Public Library offered 173 programs last year, 8.6 per 1,000 residents against a typical 24. Kids & programs ↓
This summary is written from the numbers on this page. Numbers are the library’s own report to the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
What’s behind Sedalia’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Sedalia is ahead of 43% of U.S. towns, #166 of 229 in Missouri. Sedalia’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; library visits pull it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($38K–$64K) score higher, so income alone doesn’t account for it.
Civic life counts registered nonprofits, library visits and online volunteering groups, so it can miss civic life that runs through congregations, mutual aid or neighbors looking out for each other.
Library visits: IMLS Public Libraries Survey, FY2024. Nonprofits: IRS Exempt Organizations Business Master File, October 2026. Volunteering: Social Capital Atlas (Opportunity Insights), from data by Meta Platforms, Inc.; Chetty et al., Nature 2022. How TownRatings grades civic life →
111 community nonprofits are registered in Sedalia
5.0 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: civic groups, clubs & veterans.
Community nonprofits, by kind
Counted from the IRS list of tax-exempt organizations by mailing address (fractions where a ZIP code spans towns). Congregations are counted apart (56 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 1 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
8.1%
8.1% of Sedalia’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 9.3% in the typical Missouri town and 7.5% nationally.
Volunteering: Social Capital Atlas (Opportunity Insights), from data by Meta Platforms, Inc.; Chetty et al., Nature 2022. ZIP-code figures, weighted by where Sedalia’s residents live; 2022.
A National Register landmark since 1980
Sedalia Public Library, 311 W 3rd St., Sedalia.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Sedalia? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Sedalia Public Library
Sedalia Public Library was added to the National Register of Historic Places on Jan 10, 1980. It is significant for its education and architecture at the state level. Its architecture is described as Greek Revival.
Sedalia Public Library is a historic Carnegie library building located at Sedalia, Pettis County, Missouri. It was designed by the architecture firm Shepley, Rutan and Coolidge and built in 1900. It is a two-story, cruciform plan, Greek Revival style wood and steel frame building with brick walls and limestone and terra cotta facing.
More about the building →Other libraries in Sedalia
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Sedalia Public Library serves 20,022 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 21 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
58K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 54K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.8 time last year, on average.
13,137 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 2 kids’ programs a week
Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Sedalia last year.
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.14 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Sedalia cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $798K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $907K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $798K budget.
Fine-free. No late fees on books returned late.
Retail prices are typical, rounded down: a new book $17, a kids’ book $12, an e-book or e-audiobook $15, a movie rental $4, a class or program $10, a computer or Wi-Fi session $3. The average cardholder’s month = the library’s yearly loans, attendance and Wi-Fi sessions ÷ its 10,390 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Sedalia Public Library counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
Hours are the survey’s yearly average; libraries are compared with others serving about as many people. How TownRatings uses library figures →
Questions about the library and civic life in Sedalia
Does Sedalia have a public library?
Yes. Sedalia Public Library, 311 W 3rd St., serves Sedalia’s 20,022 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 53 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Sedalia Public Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
Yes to both: no late fees, and e-books, audiobooks and research databases with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Sedalia’s library?
It logged 1.3 visits and lent 2.9 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Sedalia’s civic life grade?
C+ Sedalia is ahead of 43% of U.S. towns on civic life, #166 of 229 in Missouri. The grade combines library visits per resident, community nonprofits per 1,000 residents and the share of adults 25–44 in volunteering groups. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Sedalia.
Libraries: Institute of Museum and Library Services, Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024. Each library reports its own numbers. Distances are straight-line from the town center. Building history: National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places; photo via Wikimedia Commons. “What your card is worth” uses typical retail prices and is an estimate, not an official figure.